Tablet and VOD viewing continues to beef up ratings for TV series, particularly when folded into live+same day viewing and four-week old DVR ratings. That was one of the takeaways from ABC’s luncheon panel “Videobiquity” on multiplatform viewing, and while there’s no shock there, the network like many continues to dissect and analyze the audience in this everchanging medium in order to sell advertisers and the public at large on the exact size of a show’s popularity.

For the 2014/15 season, online/VOD consumption drives Scandalto an overall 5.7 rating in the 18-49 demo across all platforms, with a 1.23 rating coming from VOD/online alone. Grey’s Anatomy was second with a 5 rating in 18-49 pulling and a 1.15 rating from VOD/online. Most multiplatform ratings for notable ABC shows, when calculated, repped triple-digit surges over their live+same day ratings, as seen in the chart below.

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Also exhibiting the impact of VOD/online ABC viewing was a clear bar chart today (right), juxtaposing the premiere audiences for Grey’s Anatomy 11 years ago and How To Get Away With Murder last fall. Grey’s audience was distinct: it earned a 7.16 rating in live and same day viewing among Adults 18-49. Murder was 8.57 which is inclusive of a live+same day of 3.78 and a 2.17 online/VOD as well as DVR viewings.

In addition, the share of VOD-online viewing for ABC premieres have increased greatly. While the first episodes of Nashville and Once Upon a Timebothdrew 80% live-same day viewers and 20% online/VOD viewers; the debuts of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. attracted 25% VOD/online while How to Get Away With Murder drew 33% VOD/online. In sum, those who begin watching ABC series online or VOD are more apt to watch the shows again in any format.

Those women taking in ABC shows via VOD and ABC.com are not only younger, but wealthier too, as opposed to those who watch on TV. Median age for those watching TV is 55 with upscale index of 107, while those watching VOD are 43 year old on average with an upscale index measure of 130. Those taking in ABC.com are 41 with an upscale of 110.

One of the first slides, showed an odd trend in regards to the distribution of minutes across platforms: While mobile/tablet usage remained consistent with audiences at 23% between the 2013/14 season and 2014/15 season, connected TV shares went up from 32% to 48%. Reading the finer print, connected included TV viewed on game consoles, Roku and Apple TV boxes.

Bingeing remains a term that requires definition per the ABC research team: Is bingeing watching an entire season in one day or watching three episodes at various intervals?

In terms of non-ABC means of catching ABC shows, i.e. Netflix, executives at the lunch mentioned how Scandal’s second season ratings spiked thanks to viewers being able to catch its seven-episode first season on Netflix. ABC entertainment chief Paul Lee mentioned at his exec chair TCA session this morning that Netflix doesn’t permit the watermarking of shows so that Nielsen can track them. In addition, TV ratings researchers find Netflix provides networks with a limited amount of data on now their shows stream on the site.

Does the swell in table/online viewing factor in saving on-the-bubble shows? It’s certainly considered, however, the stat lunch didn’t reveal any concrete examples. When a show is no longer growing in on-demand, it’s a flag, and it’s wrapped in other flags. Asked whether the sagging live-same day ratings for ABC’s Revenge also showed a similar trajectory on the ABC app/VOD viewing for the show, one ABC rep countered saying that the show exhibited growth on VOD/online tablet use.